Outdoor game "Entrepreneurial Dwarf"
In 2008, the Office of Economic Development was invited to participate in the Lower Silesian Science Festival, and more precisely in the outdoor Park of Knowledge. Then, the outdoor game "Entrepreneurial Dwarf" was created. The game had two simple messages: first – that establishing of our own business is not as difficult as it may result from commonly shared opinions, second – that pursuing the business activity is like everything in our life: sometimes you earn and sometimes you lose. The role of the fortuitous element in the game was performed by a dice and each number of pips was assigned a specific physical exercise (stamping using a huge stamp, timed rearrangement of coins, slalom coin rolling, etc.). The whole thing was developed the by specialists for children's team games from the Wrocław University School of Physical Education under the direction of Dr. Anna Malska-Śmiałowska.
The game enjoyed such a great interest on the part of teachers that just a month later the decision was made about "including" it in the project framework, to allow more children to take part in it.
In the period from 2 March to 30 May 2009, the qualifying round of "Entrepreneurial Dwarf" was organised and conducted in 11 Wrocław primary schools. About 500 children participated in it in total, and the best team from each establishment was qualified to the final round. The final round with participation of 11 winning teams was held at the Wrocław market square on 1 June 2009.
Rules of the game
STAGE 1.
The children establish their own company. They roll a dice and move a playing piece on boards by the number of pips rolled. The fields are arranged in such a way so that each participant at least once finds themselves on the board marked "Municipal Office", "Statistical Office" and "Social Security Office". The children earn or lose their dwarf ducats, in accordance with the inscription on the field on which the playing piece is put after rolling the dice. Deposits and withdrawals of dwarf ducats are carried out in the Treasury. Each roll of the dice (each number of pips rolled) is assigned to a specific physical exercise described in the regulations of the game. The time of performing each task is converted into points and these points are converted into the ducats. The precision of performing each task is watched over by the Judge along with the Dwarf. After passing the fields of the first part, i.e. after establishing the company, the children go to the Treasury, where they exchange their earned ducats for an ATM card, on which the status of the account is written and then they go to the second part of the game.
STAGE 2.
The children run their own company. Again, they roll the dice and move the playing piece forward by the number of pips rolled. They earn the ducats or lose them, depending on the inscription on the field ("Tax office" is "-150", "Training" is "-500", "Large order" is "+500", etc.). Each number of pips to be rolled is assigned to a physical exercise and the precision of its performance is again watched over by the Judge along with the Dwarf. In the second part of the game, all ducat transactions are non-cash. The losses and profits are written by the Dwarf on the ATM card.
The result of the game is the sum of the ducats resulting from the dice rolls and points for the physical exercises (and one point is equivalent to 100 dwarf ducats).
Grand Final
Nomination to the European Enterprise Awards competition.
The success of the game and very good references received from the heads of educational institutions were the reason for which at the end of 2009, "Entrepreneurial Dwarf" was submitted to the European Enterprise Awards competition in the category "skills development". On 18 February 2010, at the Ministry of Economy in Warsaw, a press conference was held, during which the official information on the results of the national stage of the competition was given. The national stage is the stage where the projects recommended by the Marshal's Offices have been sent to the Ministry of Economy and assessed by the Selection Panel. The Panel was composed of the representatives of territorial self-government organisations, enterprises, universities, PARP and Ministry of Economy.
"Entrepreneurial Dwarf" won the first prize in its category.
